I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to shims and, more particularly, to a shim for a planetary gear arrangement.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Many automotive transmissions include planetary gear arrangements in which a plurality of planetary gears are each rotatably mounted to a frame by individual shafts. These shafts in turn are fixedly secured to the frame for the planetary gear arrangement. An annular shim is conventionally positioned around the shaft in between each end of the planetary gear arrangement and its frame.
After prolonged use, however, the shims on the planetary gear arrangement become worn and ultimately require replacement. The deterioration of the shims is further hastened since only minimal lubrication reaches the shaft adjacent the shims. The replacement of these shims, however, has been a difficult and expensive procedure.
More specifically, in order to replace the shims in the planetary gear arrangement, it has been the previous practice to remove the frame together with the planetary gears from the transmission. The shaft is then pressed out of the frame which allows new shims to be inserted in between the ends of the planetary gear and the frame. Thereafter, the shaft is repressed back into place in the frame and the planetary gear arrangement is ultimately reinstalled in the transmission.
Since the above procedure to replace the shims in the planetary gear arrangement not only requires removal of the planetary gear arrangement from the transmission, but also requires specialized and expensive equipment in order to temporarily remove the planetary gears from their frame and thereafter replace the planetary gears in the frame, such an operation has been previously very expensive to perform. In some cases, it is simpler and less expensive to simply replace the entire planetary gear arrangement rather than to repair it even though only a relatively inexpensive shim requires replacement.